fandomhigh_ooc | Teacher Sample Application

Player Name: Joey Joe Joe Joe-Bob
Player Age: 29
Contact Email: durr@gmail.com
AIM Screenname: JumpinJoeFlash
Who do you currently play at Fandom High? (if anyone): Optimus Prime, Dana Scully
How did you find us?: Through Krycek's player

Character Name: Balki Bartokomous

Fandom: Perfect Strangers

Character Type: Teacher

Potential Character LJ: callmegumby

Character Age: 23

Teachers Only: Course Description:
How to Be an American
Each week, Balki will cover an area of American culture and instruct the students on how to adapt to it. Unfortunately, he has no idea how to actually fit in and sticks out like a sore thumb, leading to the students getting misinformed lessons. The lessons will be humorous approaches to American culture from an outside perspective. Some topics will include fashion, table manners, polite conversation, popular culture references and both male and female bonding. Lessons will involve a short explanation of the topic and then an activity for the students to interact with each other and test out their new skills.

Teachers Only: Class Scheduling:
Wednesday and Friday

CHARACTER BACKGROUND

1. Assume we've never even heard of your show/movie/game/book/comic/play (known as 'canon' from now on). Please explain it to us.:
Perfect Strangers was a TV sitcom that ran from 1986 to 1993. The story was based around the premise of Balki Bartokomous, a naive and quirky foreigner, coming to live in America and visit his very straightlaced American cousin, Larry. Wacky hijinks ensued thanks to Balki's habit of being weird and getting into trouble. Larry would then get him out of trouble and, at times, teach him about American life. When they weren't in trouble, they were simply two very different people (distantly related) who were trying to live with each other in Chicago. As the series went on, female characters (love interests) were introduced, adding another dimension to the show, which continued for several seasons and resulted in Larry and his girlfriend getting married and having a baby, and Balki and his girlfriend's relationship developing. Time was also spent on Larry and Balki's jobs at a local newspaper. Overall, despite the changes, the basic premise of Larry and Balki's relationship remained at the core of the series.

2. Now onto your character. Please tell us about them. Appearance, personality, how they react to others in general and where they fit into the canon you explained above. Describe the character to us so we can get an idea of who's joining the community.:
Balki is a tall, thin, heavily accented, dorky-looking man from the fictional foreign island country of Mypos. He was a shepherd there and lived a very simple, uncomplicated life (the opposite of the fast-paced American lifestyle) depicted in the show. He is ambitious, but naive, as shown by his aspirations to have a good life in America and his moving there without planning anything or really thinking it through. He's positive and well-meaning, but often gets into trouble without even trying. He reacts to people with a scary amount of enthusiasm and often confuses people or weirds them out because he's so bouncy and, at times, makes little sense to normal people. He thinks he's an expert on American culture, but the truth is he only has a skewed view of everything from popular culture. As a result, Fandom is getting a very enthusiastic, hyperactive, misguided man who will try to make friends with everyone and then confuse them cheerfully.

3. Powers! Does your character have any abilities (powers, skills, training or weapons) that go beyond what a normal person would have?: Nope! Balki is a very normal abnormal human.

4. Why is your character coming to Fandom and what kind of situation are they leaving behind at home? (ie: where in the canon timeline do they come from?): Balki is coming to Fandom during the time in between Season 2 and 3. At the end of Season 2, Larry and Balki met and started dating Jennifer and Mary Anne. At the beginning of Season 3, several months had passed and Larry and Balki were living in a new apartment building. During that off-camera time, Balki applied for a job at Fandom and, instead of moving into the new place with Larry, he's off to Fandom to teach. Larry will be moving into the new place without Balki.

5. Is there any reason that they might cause trouble to other characters in the Fandom High setting due to behavior or abilities? How would you account for that to make the character work well in a group-intensive environment?: Balki is an oddball, which may make some characters feel uncomfortable. His friendliness often overcomes that. If there are any problems, I'll contact the player I'm playing with and try to work something out so no players are feeling put off by the character.

6. Links to character/series information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_Strangers_%28TV_series%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balki_Bartokomous
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfPg5LjGYz8&feature=related - Balki on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSFMhFn5wF8

PROBLEM SOLVING
Things don't go how you expected them to and you find yourself in a situation where you don't get what you want. How will you react out of character as a player? How will you have your character react to the situation?:
You're on your own for this one!

WRITING SAMPLE
Please write at least 300 words *in character* having your character do something, anything, at Fandom High.:
You're on your own for this one too. Check out the communities to see the style we use here.